摘要：A Professional Doctorate in Public Health has been offered at a postgraduate medical school in London since 1996. The programme was developed for ‘public health practitioners with careers in the operational, management or professional aspects of public health’. Its aim is to equip participants with skills for leadership in public health policy and practice rather than research. To date 46 students from over 30 countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe have graduated from the programme. Throughout its history the programme has been subject to a continuous process of development and refinement, although it has retained its three core components of a formal taught element, a professional attachment, and a research thesis. The paper considers each component in turn. In the professional attachment students spend 3-6 months observing a public health organisation and producing a report. Assessment issues in relation to each component are considered, including the ways in which these have been modified in response to issues raised. The paper then explores the challenges in providing thesis supervision for the DrPH rather than the PhD, and compares the two. The supervisory skills required across the three components in order to ensure that the programme has the same intellectual rigour and standard as a PhD are considered.The paper concludes with key lessons learnt, finding that programmes such as the DrPH can make a distinct and valuable contribution to doctoral level training in the field of public health, complementing the research training offered by the PhD.
关键词：Professional; Doctorate; Public health; PhD; Experience
